Hey, good morning to you.

It is Saturday, May the 16th, and we begin this hour with the math of the great gerrymandering war of 2026.

Triggered by Donald Trump, Republicans are trying to rack up extra seats in Congress without earning any more votes.

And on paper, they certainly trying to rack up extra seats in Congress without earning any more votes.

And on paper, they certainly seem to be succeeding.

Democrats stand to gain five seats in California and one more in Utah, but Republicans stand to gain as many as 14 seats across Florida, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee,

and Texas.

And Republicans in three more states, Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas, and Republicans in three more states, Alabama,

Louisiana, and South Carolina are in the process of changing their maps to eliminate three

more Democratic seats held between them. Now, if all of that succeeds, there's a lot more to

the math than maps. For one, the national political environment.

Donald Trump and his policies are not popular with the American people, and Republican candidates

across the country are going to be on the hook for them. They're going to have to answer to

not just Democrats, but independents and Republicans who are not happy with some of those policies.

In a new Reuters-Ipsos poll, 41% of registered voters say they'd vote

for a Democrat in their district if the election was held today. That number is very low, by the way,

41%, but it's six points better than the Republican number. In that same poll, 36% of Americans approve

of Donald Trump's job as president, 63% disapproved.

That's 27 points underwater.

But again, there's a difference between the president's popularity and unpopularity and Congress.

But there is the arrogance of gerrymandering, of believing that voters will not care what is done to their districts and will

vote within the expectations of whomever drew or redrew the lines.

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